An Ilorin High Court on Thursday sentenced one Abdulrahman Bello to death by hanging for the gruesome murder of Hafsoh Lawal, a final-year student of the College of Education, Ilorin.
Delivering judgment, Justice Hannah Ajayi described the act as “cruel, wicked, and an extreme display of human wickedness.” The judge stated that evidence presented before the court confirmed that the victim was killed for ritual purposes and the trade of human body parts.
Bello had lured the victim, whom he claimed to love and planned to marry, to his residence at the Olunlade area of Ilorin on February 10, 2025. After having sexual intercourse with her, he killed and dismembered her body.
Upon his arrest and interrogation, law enforcement officers recovered a bottle filled with blood, the deceased’s palm, personal belongings, and a cutlass used in the crime from his room. Parts of the victim’s decomposed body were later found at a nearby dumpsite.
The court also discharged and acquitted four other defendants Ahmed Abdulwasiu, Jamiu Uthman, Suleiman Muyideen, and Abdulrahman Jamiu of all charges. Justice Ajayi ruled that there was no evidence linking them to the crime and therefore declared them not guilty.
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